The New Girl in Town
by stypayhorlikson
Summary: Holly Cline just moved to Ohio with her workaholic mother. She stumbles upon a cute blonde boy her first day and now she doesn't know it yet, but she's hooked. Can she fight temptation with her rocky background? Or will she give in to his advances. Lily is Ocmluvr21's OC Sam
1. Chapter 1

"Mom, why couldn't you have just waited in the car?" I muttered back to my impatient mother as she tapped her nails loudly on the bright, granite counter.

"And let you skip the first day at your new school? I think not." She replied, looking past the counter back and forth, attempting to wave down an administrator. She finally did; I groaned.

"Hi, my name is Mr. Figgins, Principle here at McKinley High. You must be our new student, Holly Cline." He scripted his monologue, as I timidly looked at my split ends.

"Holly Anne Cline, look at Mr. Figgins when he talks to you." My mother commanded, slapping my wrist that held some of my dyed blonde tips between my forefinger and thumb.

"Sorry," I murmured, looking at Mr. Figgins, who was already grabbing various papers and shoving them carelessly into a vanilla folder.

"Mrs. Cline, your daughter will be very safe here at McKinley High, our standards our high and expectations higher. We do not tolerate bullying in the facility, and will expel on the spot for fighting. Do I make myself clear Miss Cline?" he droned from talking to my mother to me.

"Yes sir," I whispered. My mother seemed satisfied and kissed my cheek.

"Bye lovely, see you after school." She chirped and turned on her 5 inch heels. I was left alone with Mr. Figgins as he stood, awkwardly waiting for me to follow him.

After a long tour of the small school, Mr. Figgins stopped in front of my first class. "So you see Miss Holly, we are a very spirited school and we enjoy having new students. Here is your first class. Spanish 2 with Mr. William Schuester, let me be the first in welcoming you to our lovely facility." He then thrust the folder into my hands and left without another word. I opened the door as quietly as I could and slipped into the room. All of the sudden, all eyes were on me. Crap.

"Hola, you must be our new student, Holly? He asked, running a hand through thick, curly locks.

"Em, yes; or um si senor," I joked. The whole class laughed, and my cheeks went warmed to a rosy shade. Mr. Schuester chuckled and pointed to an empty seat.

"Alright, you can sit next to Sam," he smiled, turning back to the chalkboard. I pursed my lips and slowly inched my way over to the empty seat in the back of the room. As I plunked into my seat, I dropped my folder onto the ground. The boy, Sam, picked it up and slid it in front of me.

"Here, you go," he whispered, turning back to the board before I could say anything.

I smiled, looking at his profile. Blonde hair that had to be dyed, cute hazel eyes (they might be slightly greenish), and full red lips that stretched out to a wide mouth. He was beyond cute, wearing a red and white letterman jacket, but I couldn't stare any longer and managed to turn my head away. He turned back to me. "I'm Sam by the way, Sam Evans. You are…" he waited quietly for me to respond.

"Hi, um, I'm Holly Cline, nice to meet you Sam. So, do you guys actually learn Spanish in this class or is it just a hoax?" I tried my hand at making conversation.

"Ha, it's really like a filler class for the glee kids. Most of the class is in glee club, Mr. Schue is the teacher. It's really great, lots of singing though." He rambled a bit. I giggled.

"I would assume that there is a lot of singing." He blushed and looked down at the desk. Oops, I guess I embarrassed him. The rest of the class was boring and not much Spanish was actually being taught.

The bell finally sounded and the class bounded out of the room, begging for an escape. Sam took his time.

"Bye Holly, nice to meet you." He smiled, and my knees buckled a little bit. Woah, how did that manage to happen? I usually don't bother with boys, but he has already pushed his way through my barrier and it really pissed me off.

I pushed the door open and rushed out of the room before anything awkward happened to me, and I managed to slam into a locker door, that was wide open. And I didn't see it. The locker's owner gasped and kneeled down to help me. She had sweet eyes that were full of helpfulness, flowing blonde hair, and an expression that was one of complete worry.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" she stammered, holding out her hand. I grabbed it and she whisked me onto my feet.

"I'm fine; it's my fault, no need to apologize for my stupidity. I'm Holly," I smiled, rubbing my probably tomato red forehead.

"I'm Lily, are you new here Holly? I haven't seen you around before." She mused, carelessly throwing her books into her locker. I tucked a strand of auburn hair behind my ear, looking down at my black Toms.

"Yeah, I moved here yesterday. Today is my first day at McKinley." I explained, not raising my voice higher than a whisper. She giggled and shut her locker.

"Well, I'm relatively new to McKinley too; I started about a week ago. There's not much to offer here, but my friend Brittany managed to get me to join the glee club." She smiled as she said Brittany's name, "You should come and check us out, it's really fun and we get to sing all kinds of songs."

"Even rap?" I joked, raising my eyebrow.

"Even rap," she smiled, as a blonde haired, blue eyed cheerleader skipped up to her. Lily grabbed Brittany's hand and they walked off together. Maybe I should check out the glee club that everyone is talking about, I love singing and this could be one thing that keeps me from killing my mother for moving us out here to Lima.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! You have no idea what it means to me that you favorite/review it. I should have mentioned earlier, but Lily is ocmluver21's character. She will have a story about her later in the future. The song is by The Wanted, and it's called I'll be Your Strength, I own none of the Glee's characters, and all rights go to them and yada yada yada. Thank you for reading and I hope you like it!**

Tuesday rolled around and took forever to finish up. The last bell screeched, and I walked with Lily and Brittany to the choir room which served as the glee club's classroom. I had managed to learn a few people's names, but I'm terrible with placing people to their names; I figured I might as well just call them all you and it. I walked into the room and Mr. Schuester had just started.

"Alrighty guys, so Sectionals is coming up, and we need to conjure up a set list; any ideas?" he searched around the room for anything that might come close to raised hand. He noticed a few kids looking at the door and turned to me. "Hey Holly, I'm so glad you could join us! Come in; don't be shy! Take a seat, we were just discussing our set list for the competition we do." He turned and wrote SET LIST in huge letters onto the whiteboard with a green marker. I smiled and made my way to an empty seat in the back.

Sam was right; most of the kids in my Spanish class were here. Puck, Mike, Artie, Santana, Kurt, Finn, and Sam were the only ones I could remember at the moment; but I'm sure I've seen almost all of the people in this room. Except a really cute guy with dark almost black hair and bushy eyebrows; he also happened to be dressed a lot like Kurt, with a bowtie and cardigan.

The back corner of the crowded choir room was really convenient; I could people watch from back here. I examined around as a perky girl stood up, and introduced herself as Rachel Berry, and then she showed off her boyfriend, Finn, making sure that I took note that he was hers. I gave my best sincere smile as she announced the song she wanted the two of them to sing. They began their duet, which I thought was a bit on the pitchy side.

Lily sat next to me; her lean legs stretched out with the tips of her converse touching the chair in front of her, with gorgeous long blonde hair careening down the back of the plastic mulberry chair, as she lightly draped her arm over Brittany's chair. I had suspected that Brittany and Lily were in a relationship, but with the way Santana held Brittany's hand, I had no idea.

I turned my attention to the other kids sitting around me. Puck tried to get my attention.

"Hey!" he whisper-yelled, "Holly!" I looked, which was probably a big mistake. Puck smiled and pointed to Sam, as he did, Puck mouthed, 'He likes you.' Sam was oblivious and watching the duet, luckily. I raised an eyebrow, 'What?' I mouthed back, leaning closer to Puck, as if I could make his words any clearer. 'Sam likes you!' he tried again, furiously pointing at the blondie. I furrowed my eyebrows. 'Sam likes soup?' I gave him a confused look. Puck rolled his eyes and pointed his finger from Sam to me, than made an awkward finger heart, like you see the kids do these days.

I immediately turned my attention to Rachel who had just belted out an extremely high note, one I could only dream of hitting. We all clapped and Kurt rolled his eyes to Eyebrows and gave Rachel a huge smile, indicating that he was joking about her showing off. She giggled, grabbed Finn's hand, and danced back to her seat.

"Wow, Rachel that was some high note you just got. Great job! So," Mr. Schuester twisted to me, "As a tradition Holly, every new glee student gets to sing a song as the welcoming initiation. Come on down and don't be shy! We love everyone!" I internally screamed. What? I have to sing? Now? No thanks, not after that duet! I haven't even practiced? Wait, do you call singing in the shower practice? Never mind, no wait, what am I doing up here? My legs happened to be severed from my head, as they walked me down to the center of the room. I stood there for a second, debating turning around and running out of there screaming. Then, silently I walked over to the piano, and sat down.

"Well, um this is a song that I've been singing for the past few weeks now, it's, eh, really special to me." With that, I started tapping the keys in sync and rhythm, as if I was on my small keyboard at home.

This is not gonna last forever

It's a time where you must hold on

And I won't let you surrender

And I'll heal you if you're broken _(I stand and Brad the Piano guy takes my place.)_

We can stand so tall together

We can make it through the stormy weather

We can go through it all together

Do it all together, Do it all _(This may be pathetic, but I started dancing around the room.)_

I'll be your strength

I will, I will, I will

I'll be your strength

Yes I will, yes I will

I won't sleep till the sky is calmer

Keep on searching till I've found you _(I smiled at Sam, and he blushed as soon as I looked away.)_

And my love will be your armour

In this battle field around you _(I held out my arms and spun in a circle, this is seriously my favorite part.)_

Hand in hand we walk together _(Clasped both my hands together, holding them up in the air.) _

We can make it through the stormy weather

We can break down walls together _(I looked like I was banging on a door, very rhythmically of course.)_

Do it all together, do it all

Hold on, hold on _(Basically, all you need to know is that from here to the end of the song, I danced around the room like a complete fool, and it was damn fun.)_

I'll be... there soon

I'll be your strength

I'll be, I'll be, I'll be your strength

I'll be, I'll be

I'll be your strength

I'll be, I'll be

I'll be your strength

I'll be strong for you

I'll be your strength

And I'll keep strong for you.

I smiled, and quickly started to walk back to my seat.

"Not so fast, come back over here," Mr. Schuester stated, very serious. I nervously stepped back down. The choir room erupted with applause and whistles.

"That was epic!" Artie shouted over the noise. I smiled, and thanked him quietly.

"Good god, how did you get your voice to do that little change mid line? Oh, and I'm Tina" An extremely pretty Asian girl asked and by the look on her face, she was pretty astonished.

"I'm not really sure, I just kinda sang, but it's nice to meet you Tina." I smiled, and waved. She returned it and went back to talking very animatedly to Mike. I looked down at my shoes and snuck back to my seat, luckily the room was filled with chatter about something else already.

"That was incredible Holly; I didn't know you had a voice like that. So, I kinda think we should incorporate Holly into our solos list. Who agrees?" Mr. Schuester raised his hand, waiting for a response. Sam was the first one to raise his and I blushed to a furious shade of cherry. Everyone in the room raised a hand, except for Rachel. When she saw that she was the only one left, she slowly lifted her hand, ever so slightly, making it appear as if it took a lot of effort. "So it's settled, Holly gets a solo for Sectionals." Mr. Schuester concluded. Some cheers floated through the congested air.

"Mr. Schue," Rachel stood, "I think that we should have a friendly competition to figure out who gets a solo for Sectionals, I don't really think we should base this sort of thing on just a vote. I think it should be a mini type of contest." She was in the center of the room, quickly explaining her thoughts.

"Seriously Rachel? Holly just sang an amazing song on her first day of glee club and you're already putting her under you because you want a solo." Sam blurted, speaking for the first time since I had finished my song. I looked over at him, then down at my lap. My side-swept bangs fell into my face and kept me from seeing Rachel's reaction to Sam's comment. By the way I heard her sharply inhale and clomp over to her seat; I'll bet it was good. Lily snickered, and tapped my shoulder. The bell rang indicating glee was over. Everyone got up and filed out of the room, Rachel being the first.

"You alright?" Lily asked, giving me a quick head nod. I smiled, and grabbed my bag.

"Oh, yeah it's all good," I replied, maneuvering only my eyes to look at Sam who angrily threw his bag across his muscular shoulders.

"Don't let Berry get you down, she did that to me too. I think we should rock this competition; I'm doing a trio with Brittany and Santana. I think you should either sing a solo or a duet, maybe Sam or Puck will want to group up with ya; your voice is pretty great and I noticed the way Sam stood up for you." Lily nudged my shoulder, giving me a wink.

"Um, maybe, thanks. Will Rachel be singing with Finn?" I asked, only because Finn seemed like he could've cared less about this competition.

"Yeah, either Finn or Kurt, Rachel likes to carol her little show tunes. You could spice up the competition with something Rock and Roll-ish. We're doing Super Bass. I think this could get interesting." Santana strode into our conversation, casually tossing an arm around Lily's shoulder.

"Haha, maybe I haven't sung a Rock and Roll song since…" I paused, "Well, since I heard I Love Rock and Roll." I joked. Santana smirked.

"Whatever, just bring you're A game, because we…" she reached out and grabbed Brittany, pulling her over, just as the cute blonde was walking away, and wrapped her arm around her neck, "are bringing it on." I stepped back a step and Santana did some kind of bitchy girl snap/head roll thing and walked away. Oh my god, I thought she was gonna beat me up for a second. Lily sighed, smiled and walked away with Brittany right at her heels. I shivered; she must be trying to intimidate me. Well, it's working; I better get a partner and get ready for this competition because now I want to show them I can bring it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for reading, sorry if it's short. I've been relatively busy, and I hope to update on a sort of regular basis. But, em, probably not...**

"Hey, Sam!" I called to the cute, blonde boy who had just emerged from the locker room. His head whipped around, and saw me ushering him over. He waved and jogged over to me.

"Hey Holly, what's up?" he asked, shaking his wet hair, getting me wet. "Um, sorry," he mumbled, handing me the towel on his shoulder. I wiped the water off of my forehead and lip,

"It's all good," I replied, "So, I wanted to ask you of you wanted to do a duet with me for the competition." I slurred really quickly. He just stared at me; obviously Lily was wrong, he didn't want to do a duet.

"That would be amazing." He responded, grabbing my shoulder. I widened my eyes in surprise.

"Awesome! I'm so happy you said yes! I was really worried that you would say no, and I'd have to talk to however many more people until maybe one person said yes, and…" I rambled. Sam chuckled.

"No, I want to sing a duet with you, let's meet in the choir room after school today," he smiled, and walked to his next class. I nearly screamed I was so excited. I ran to the one person who would be happy for me right now.

"Lily!" I yelled, almost slamming into the slender blonde. I stopped myself, before impact, but it was a bit close.

"Woah tiger, what's going on?" she asked, grabbing a text book from a kid.

"I'm singing a duet with Sam in the competition!" I whisper-shouted. She jumped up and down, and squealed a little bit.

"OMG that's adorbs! I'm so excited for this competition now that we have some competition! I better get Brittany and Santana so we can practice!" Lily turned and bounced off to find the two.

"Okay, that wasn't exactly the reaction I was going for…" I murmured, turning into a heavy chest. His huge arms steadied me, and kept me from falling flat on my face. "Em, sorry, I'm really clumsy, and…" Puck stopped me.

"No worries. So, you and Lily good friends?" he asked, staring at Lily as she hugged Brittany, down the hall.

"I guess, I've known her since I got here, two days ago." I replied, looking at his face. He was tranced. I shrugged, and left him to his gawking.

The end of the school day couldn't come soon enough. I walked as casually as I could into the choir room, and saw Sam tuning his guitar. I knocked on the door frame, and walked in.

"Hey, I didn't know you played guitar." I pointed at the pretty mahogany acoustic guitar he held delicately in his strong hands.

"Yeah, it's something that keeps me from going insane," he smiled and strummed a chord.

"Singing keeps me from going positively mental and strangling my mother," I hummed a note and giggled. Sam cackled. "So, what song do you want to sing for the competition?"

"Well, I think we should do something that fits both our voices," he pulled out an iPod and handed me an earbud. He pressed shuffle and we listened to a bunch of different artists. About 4 songs later, I realized I've never heard him sing.

"It would help more if I heard you sing something." I smiled and leaned against the piano. The wheels squeaked and moved a foot, making me stumble a bit.

"That was graceful," Sam laughed, catching my elbow before I smacked down.

"Eh, thanks," I mumbled. He sat on a stool, and motioned me over. I carefully sat on the stool beside him, and he started to pluck the strings. He sang an acoustic version of 'Stutter' by Maroon 5, and I almost fell out of my seat.

"That was amazing," I practically yelled as soon as he finished.

"You think so?" he replied, lightly putting the guitar on the floor beside him.

"You need to sing more often, we should do a Maroon 5 song, ooh, or a Jason Mraz song, that would really fit your voice or maybe a Blake Shelton song…" I started naming off artists, and Sam wrote each one down on a piece of paper.

"Got all of them I think," he said, looking over the mile long list. Man, I can talk a lot.

"Well, we obviously have some choices, let's meet up again tomorrow. You could come over my house if you're not busy." I more of questioned than stated.

"Sounds great, I'll text you later. I gotta get to work," he smiled, and grabbed his things. As he got to the door, he turned around. "Oh and Holly," he paused, "I'm really excited for this competition."

"Me too, me too," I whispered, pulling my phone out of my bag. Five missed calls from my mom. I listened to the voice messages she left me.

**Call one:** "Hey honey, it's your mother. I just wanted to know where you are lovely… It's already an hour after school and you're not home. Call me."

**Call two:** "Holly, I'm getting worried. You said you'd call me if you were ever late."

**Call three:** "Holly Anne Cline. It's been two and a half hours. Where on earth are you? Are you sleeping around? Is this what you've resorted too since we got here?"

**Call four:** "Sorry lovely, that last message was kind of intense. Get home immediately."

**Call five:** "Holly Anne Cline, get your ass back home this instant. You are completely and utterly grounded young lady. It is 5' o clock and you made me late for my Pilates class."

Okay, that's a bit awkward considering I called her twice this morning to confirm that I'd be here until probably 5 PM. She's been so out of it since dad left.


	4. Chapter 4

Lily screamed, unable to move, shocked by the electric green bullet that splashed into her face.

"Take that glee club!" a jerky hockey player sauntered backwards towards me. I held out my foot, and he tripped over it. "Fu—," he started before slamming his hand against the wall a few centimeters from me, catching his balance.

"Oops, my foot slipped." I taunted him and turned to leave. He shoved his other hand against the wall on the other side of me, blocking me in with his body. He leaned a mere four inches from my face.

"You think that was funny? Just because you're cute, doesn't mean you won't get what's coming to ya sweet cheeks." The guy whispered, looking into my deep burning sapphire eyes.

"Leave us alone, jackass." I stated, slipping under his arm, and walking toward a dripping wet Lily. I led her into the bathroom and she started shaking with either anger or embarrassment.

"Why? What? Oh my god. It's freezing." She shuttered as I handed her a paper towel. "Thanks," she murmured, wiping off the gooey, green mess that had unfortunately stained her light blue tank top.

"Do they usually do that?" I asked, handing her my jacket.

"This was the first time for me, but I've heard the other glee kids tell horrific stories about it." Lily forced her way up to the mirror to survey the damage. Her blonde waves, had a hideously sick, green tint to it, and her face looked sticky still.

"That's horrible. We need to stop this, what if it gets in your eyes? Wouldn't that sting?" I wondered aloud.

"Yes, it really stings," Lily pulled her contact out of her light brown eye. She blinked a few times and shook her head, attempting to throw the ice chunks from her hair. "I need get to class, or they'll send me to the office for skipping for the umpteenth time this month." With that, Lily scurried from the bathroom, leaving the bright lime mess for someone else to clean up.

"Hey, was Lily green?" Sam caught me as I strode out of the bathroom. I smiled, and then the corners of my mouth flipped downward.

"Yeah, some jerk threw a slushy on her. So I tripped the guy." I stuck my chest out, at the pride of my accomplishment. Sam widened his olive eyes in shock.

"You tripped him? Shit Holly, are you trying to get yourself murdered?" he threw his arm around me protectively, and quickly walked us into a supply closet. He looked into my eyes, "You completely just set yourself up for a slushy attack. Maybe I should walk you to your next class?" Sam whispered, making the tips of my ears redden and warm.

"I set myself up for an attack? By making a point?" I muttered, while opening the supply door. The late bell sounded and I started to jog toward my trig class. Sam caught up with ease, and stopped me.

"Let's take my short cut, just in case those hockey players are back with another slushy." Sam grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the library. But as soon as we opened the door, five hockey players blocked the exit.

"Hey sweet cheeks, didn't I say you'd get yours?" the middle player teased, while each member held up a different colored cup.

"You know what? Fuck you," I pointed at him, "And fuck you," I pointed to the next member, "And you, and you, and you. Why the hell would you slushy someone anyways? It's degrading, it's mean, and apparently it stings!" I ranted, yelling at the guys, who had inadvertently lowered their cups. Sam stood behind me, his expression utterly stunned by the random boldness I had just thrown around. He casually walked up next to me.

"Yeah, so get lost." Sam sneered, his shoulder touching mine. The leader of the group seemed unfazed as he snapped his fingers.

Immediately, five different colored slushies' rained parallel to the ground and coldly slapped me in the face.

The hockey players laughed hysterically and meandered off. I stood, completely soaked to the bone, next to a dripping wet boy with blue stained hair. He looked sheepishly at me and held out his soppy hand. I grasped it with my own red one, and we shivered down the hall to the guys' locker room. No one was in there, and Coach Beast was nowhere to be found, so Sam hauled me into the room. We reached his locker, and he pulled out two white towels, folded neatly into flat rectangles.

"Here you go, ma'am." He smiled, handing me a towel.

"Thanks, Lily was right, this stuff burns your eyes." I gratefully took the towel and tried to blot out the yellow food dye from my eyes.

"You get used to it after a bit," Sam wandered over to the showers, carelessly throwing off his shirt on the way there. I smiled and turned for the girls' locker room.

After getting what I thought was the last bit of flavoring from my hair, it finally returned to its normal auburn shade. I wrapped the towel neatly around my midsection and padded to my gym locker. My clothes were still sopping wet, and hopelessly stained; so I pulled on my gym uniform. I walked out of the locker room, and saw Sam leaning against the wall waiting for me. He was wearing the same attire, and we laughed momentarily.

"Nice clothing choice, Holly" he smiled, as the bell rang.

"Let's get to the choir room before too many people see us," I whispered and jogged toward the friendliest door in the entire school.

* * *

"Woah, you guys skip gym or something?" Mr. Schue asked, eyeing up our clothes.

"No, we had a huge slushy attack and our clothes were completely soaked." I sheepishly replied, walking quietly to my seat in the back. Sam followed silently and sat next to me. Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and pulled her to the front of the room. Lily sulked up slowly behind them, with her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her shirt was still slightly green from her earlier accident.

"So, we wanted to give you guys your first taste of the lead trio for sectionals, hit it!" Santana smiled and snapped. Immediately, a modern, upbeat tune blared throughout the room. Lily looked at Brittany and instantly brightened up, but lost the glow when Santana intertwined her hand with Brittany's. Santana began to rap to Superbass, and at the chorus Lily and Brittany took over with their picture perfect voices. I loosely swung my shoulders and bobbed lightly to the great song as the three danced around up front. Sam leaned over and whispered to me.

"They're pretty good; we might want to practice a little more. Want to meet up again? Maybe after we could get a drink at the coffee shop close by? Just a thought, I'm sure you're freezing, I mean, I know I am." Sam began to incoherently mutter off.

"Hah, sure, that sounds great; the slushies were really freaking cold and that sounds like a good way to warm up." I smiled, and turned back to the twirling girls. I just need to make sure I call my mom.

* * *

"Bye mom, yes I know, I'll be home around 7. No! I'm NOT sleeping around with other guys! Will you stop associating my social life with sex! Good God mom, BYE!" I angrily slapped the end call button. "She thinks I'm a whore." I stated, looking at Sam who had a very peculiar facial expression.

"Ah, I see. So, let's get started." Sam replaced his face with a smile, and tugged on his black mesh shorts to get them back into place. I giggled and looked down at my own matching uniform, and sat at the piano. Sam grabbed the acoustic guitar and strummed it casually. I began to play lightly as Sam started along. We were done in no time, and it was complete.

"We'll knock everyone's socks off tomorrow!" I shouted, and shook Sam's shoulder. He cackled, and put the guitar down.

"You're damn right we will!" he responded, grabbing his backpack. "Come on, let's go get celebratory hot chocolates!" I jumped up with ease and scrambled for my backpack.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hope you all like it, I think it gets a bit intense... And thank you so much for the favorites and reviews, I love them all, and of course you too! :3**

"So, why do you look so smiley today?" My mom stated, pouring herself a cup of coffee from the pot I just made.

"Because studying went really well last night, I really understand Trig better now, and I think I might be able to pass my test today." I replied. I didn't really feel like telling her that I was actually practicing my duet with Sam. And I especially didn't want to tell her that we went out for hot chocolate afterwards. She rolled her eyes and put on a smile.

"Great lovely, did you know that I was…"

"At the top of your class, with straight A's and perfect attendance, while being head cheerleader throughout your entire school career? Yeah, I do mom," I sighed, mindlessly circling my spoon in what was left of my cereal. My mother scoffed and flicked her perfect wavy auburn hair out.

"And don't you forget it Holly Anne," she snickered, turning back to her coffee cup.

"So, today I'm studying again, so I will be home around 7." I murmured, looked at her perfectly figured back. She tensed, and twisted around.

"Really, Holl's? I mean we haven't eaten dinner together since we were back in New York." She spat, "No, just come home, I haven't properly talked to you since we moved." She stormed out of the room after that.

"Well, actually mom, we haven't eaten dinner together since dad left. And you know as well as I do that he left 9 years ago." I whispered, covering my mouth with a hand just in case she walked back in.

* * *

"Holly! Come here! I need to talk to you!" Rachel Berry motioned me over with her perfectly polished finger. I furrowed my eyebrows and cautiously walked over to her.

"What's up Rachel?" I asked, completely confused as to why she would talk to me.

"I need a favor of you," she smiled widely, grabbing my arm.

"Um, sure, what's up?" I replied, prying her hand off of me. She looked around for a moment, fixed her plaid skirt, and took a deep breath.

"So, you and Lily are good friends right?" she whispered, checking around me again.

"Sure," I raised an eyebrow, looking down at her.

"I need you to snoop out something for me," she cooed. I cackled.

"How about no?" I rolled my eyes, and turned around to leave.

"I know why you moved from New York." She stated quickly. I froze mid step.

"My mom moved us out here for work." I breathed. Rachel tsked.

"No, Holly, I know the real reason. I have good friends in New York, as you might know; I'm going to be on Broadway one day. So, you can snoop out some information for me or I'll tell everyone, and I mean everyone, why you're here." She evilly grinned, and I turned to face the little goblin.

"What do you want me to figure out," I barely choked out.

"I need you to pick up some dirt on Lily, anything that would make her unable to compete at Sectionals." She prided herself in knowing she had me. I stared into her annoyingly sparkly brown eyes, and nodded ever so slightly.

"Great, you can call me tonight!" she wrote down her number on a random History paper and threw it in my direction before clicking off towards Finn.

"Fuck you Rachel. How did you find out?" I mumbled, picking the piece of paper off of the ground. Her loopy handwriting was pissing me off, as I shoved it into the pocket of my backpack.

"Holly, what'cha doing over there?" Lily skipped up to me, she was relatively happy today. I faked a smile,

"Eh, Rachel wanted me to tell you that she thought you guys sang awesomely yesterday." I attempted not to spit as soon as I said her name. Lily giggled.

"Berry hates me; she wouldn't be able to compliment me even if I had tied her to a chair and burned pictures of Barbara Streisand right in front of her." Lily smiled, but her smile instantly dropped.

"What?" I asked, twisting around to see Brittany and Santana walking down the hallway, holding hands, and staring lovingly into each other's eyes. I coughed, and Lily shook her head.

"I, uh, gotta go, talk to you later Holly." Lily stammered, before walking in the opposite direction of the two cheerleaders. The bell rang a moment later. Shit! I'm going to be late for homeroom! I jogged toward Spanish, and slammed into another unidentified moving object.

"Ugh," I heard myself grunt as I impacted, and fell to the floor. The thing I hit, stood tall and reached out to help me up. It was Finn.

"Sorry Holly, I wasn't paying attention." He smirked and pulled me off of my probably bruised, butt.

"It's no problem, I wasn't looking either, you know, bell's gonna ring soon." I fixed my hair that had been thrown from its ponytail. He relaxed and looked like he wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon, great. I'm gonna be late.

"So, what did Rachel want to talk to you about?" he asked, running an extremely large hand through his messy, dark brown hair. I sighed.

"Your girlfriend is insane."

"You get used to it after a while," he commented.

"Well, she wants me to find out something dirty about Lily." I shrugged, and looked up at him. He heaved a sigh and nodded.

"I'm really sorry Holly, don't bother doing that. I'll convince her to back off of you. Did she offer you money or something?" he asked, quickly trying to cover up for his girlfriend.

"No, she did not offer me money. She has something on me that I really don't want people to know about. Ever." I mumbled, staring at my converse, trying not to cry.

"I'll make sure she doesn't, alright?" he touched my shoulder lightly, "Alright, Holly? You don't have to get anything on Lily." I looked at him and one side of my lips reached upward into a half smile.

"Thanks, I have to get to class, but thank you so much Finn." I jogged toward Spanish, and made it into the classroom just as the late bell rang.

"Nice of you to join us senorita Holly," Mr. Schue smiled as he scrawled some nonsense word in Spanish onto the board. I scrambled to my seat and slumped down carelessly. Sam smiled,

"Hey, ready for glee today? We're gonna kick some show tune butt!" He laughed at his own comment and then saw my expression. "Are you alright Holly?"

"Yeah," I wiped whatever expression I had on my face off, "I'm fine, and I can't wait to kick some butt in the competition!" I weakly smiled. Sam took it as nerves.

"You'll be great, we've been practicing and it's gonna be epic." He tried to soothe my 'nerves'.

"Yeah, I guess," I played along. "I don't know why I was so worried!" Sam smiled, and touched my hand lightly, and went back to the board. I shuttered at his touch, and momentarily forgot all of my pent up anger.

* * *

"Mr. Schue is it alright if Holly and I go, we've been practicing for the competition and I personally think it's really good." Sam's hand shot into the air.

"Yeah come on up here you two!" Mr. Schue clapped, and everyone watched quietly as we set up. I heard Sam start his chord, and I waited one meter before joining in. We sang Remind Me, and as soon as I heard Sam's soothing voice, I was entranced by his voice and poured my heart into the song.

"Oh, yeah, remind me." I harmonized.

"Baby, remind me." Sam ended, and everyone whistled and cheered.

"Woo, you guys! That was awesome! I didn't know country could be so… awesome!" Puck yelled happily. I smiled, and Sam wrapped his arm around me, making me blush. I looked at everyone's face for a moment. Most were smiling, and clapping, but then I saw Finn. He looked guilty. Immediately, I threw my eyes to Rachel and saw her somewhat grinning, somewhat scowling. Shit. What is she going to do? I looked over at Sam and walked back to my seat. He followed and shimmied down into the chair between me and Mike.

"Amazing, what did I tell you?" he smiled as he whispered into my eye.

"Than—" I started, but Rachel cut me off.

"So, that was great. But, I have something really interesting for you guys to know about our friend Holly here." My face drained of expression and blood. "So, you guys know that Holly moved here from New York right, but I'm sure that you are all wondering why." She smiled, her voice dripping with acidic sugar. I was numb, this could not be happening. Oh god, someone shut her up right now, please.

"U—" I forced from my lips, unable to form words or any other sound.

"Anyways, I did a little research, and found out that our friend Holly…"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I finally screamed. She was taken aback by my outburst, and smiled. Tears began to flood my vision and my ears were hot. "You don't need to tell everyone one that I moved her because I was raped!" Oh shit. I threw a hand over my mouth and gasped. Everyone else in the room was silent. Rachel actually looked surprised and I had a feeling that was not what she wanted to say to the group. I stood up to run, but Sam was instantly up and holding onto me. He flipped me around and hugged me tightly, letting me soak his shirt with my salty tears. I couldn't hold on anymore and I just lost it. I sobbed angrily into Sam as he held me to stop the trembling. I finally had enough of people seeing me like this, so I pushed off of Sam and ran. I just ran as if my life depended on it. I ended up sitting on the bleachers, watching the soccer tryouts. I managed to stop crying, but the tears just kept falling.

"Holly," a familiar voice cooed. I put my head onto my knees and wouldn't look at him.

"Go-o, aw-aay." I attempted. He came over and sat down next to me. I felt his knee touch mine, and his hand was lightly stroking my back.

"No, I won't until you tell me what's going on," his determination was admirable, I'll admit.

"Sam, you really don't need to see me like this," I blubbered as he lifted my shoulders to face him. I bet I looked horrible. But, Sam just looked me in the eyes with his olive ones and waited patiently for me to tell him what was going on. "Fine," I murmured. "I mean I guess it started back a few years ago. I was telling my best friend Greg about the guy I liked, Andrew, and he decided to set us up. We ended up dating. A month ago, we were at a party together and he decided to get drunk. He wanted to hook up, and I told him no, at least not when he was drunk. He ended up getting really, really angry. So, he hit me. Then, he threw me into a room and raped me." I paused, and took a deep breath.

"The next day, he was sober and told me he was so sorry. He begged me not to leave and, I stayed with him. I didn't tell anyone about the 'incident,' not even my best friend. Finally, he lost it at another party and he showed up at my house. He hit me again, and this time he said it was over because I couldn't put out. It was the one night my mother decided to stay home from work and she heard everything. She finally worked it out of me, and she took the job she was offered here in Lima. She wanted me to have a fresh start here, and she thought that I was sleeping with Andrew and he happened to not like how I did things anymore. She's never been around, but recently she's been even more distant and just wants me home because she thinks I sleep around." I closed my eyes and waited for Sam's response. Sam grabbed my hand, and maneuvered it to wrap around his neck. I opened my eyes and saw him a few inches from me. He encased me in his arms and hugged me tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Holl, I had no idea."

"I know you didn't. I didn't want anyone to know," I mumbled into his grey t shirt. He pulled back and kissed my cheek.

"Everything will be alright now, it's in the past and I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. Okay Holly?" he whispered, tucking a piece of my auburn hair out of my face and behind my ear.

"Okay," I murmured, enjoying his presence at the moment.


	6. Chapter 6

I dropped each book lightly into my locker after the last bell rang. Everyone around me darted toward the exits. But, behind me I heard,

"Holly, can I talk to you for a second?" A strong arm plowed out in front of me, preventing me from running away.

"Yes?" I sighed in defeat, looking down at my converse.

"I'm sorry," I looked up at the mohawked boy as he reached out and hugged me tightly. I grunted and tried to pull away, but he was a lot bigger than me so I gave up and slumped into him. "Do you want to hang out after school today? We could watch a movie at my house and hang out?" he asked, loosening his grip on me. His hazel eyes looked at me differently than they did before.

"See? This is why I didn't want people to know about my past, because they'd feel sorry for me and want to be my friend. But, look I'm not like that alright? I'm over it, it's in the past. I don't go looking for sympathy; can you just leave me alone, please?" I begged, making a180 and bolting before I cried.

"Holly! Holly, really?" Puck called after me, but he didn't attempt to physically stop me. I ran to the girl's bathroom, and stopped before hitting Lily.

"Hey Holly, are you okay?" Lily closed her mascara bottle and dropped it into her bag.

"Not really, but it's a whatever thing." I murmured, as I sank down to the grimy bathroom floor, not giving a shit anymore. Lily lowered herself to my level, careful not to actually touch the ground.

"What's up? Is this about what happened earlier with Berry? Because we don't think any different of you Holly, promise."

"I wish that was true Lily, but nothing ever works out like that."

"Who said something to you?" She asked, looking into my eyes. Her light brown eyes glittered with concern.

"Puck asked me if I wanted to come over to his house and watch a movie with him. He's never said more than 'What's up?' to me before. Learning dark information about a girl can change someone's outlook on her." I sniffled as tears bit at my eyes, begging for an escape. Lily grabbed my hand and quickly pulled me off the ground.

"Hun, unfortunately it was going to come out some time. You can't keep a secret like that in forever." She rolled her eyes a bit and exhaled. I let out a quiet whine and shook my head. Lily touched my shoulder and then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I had a pot addiction. Technically, it's not an addiction anymore but I sometimes still do it." She relaxed her shoulders which had tensed as she spoke.

"What?" I turned to her.

"You heard me, and after my brother died I began sleeping around. I moved here to get away from everything, and like you, have a fresh start." You could tangibly see the relief of that weight come off of her shoulders.

"Lily, I had no idea."

"See? Do I seem any different to you?" she smirked.

"Not really," I shrugged, "Fine, I see your point. But, what Puck said to me basically felt like I was being tackled by a football player."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. There are some who try and treat you differently, but you have to ignore them and move on. I'll see you tomorrow Holly, and don't forget. Berry can be a conniving bitch." Lily smiled, and sauntered, not walked, sauntered out of the bathroom.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Is that what I look like right now? Oh Jeezus Christ. My usually straight auburn hair had several knotted clumps hanging from my half-in ponytail, my eyeliner was virtually at my jawline, and to top it off, my cheeks were bright red from earlier. 'I look sexy,' I thought, as I took a few paper towels and wetted them under the lukewarm sink water. The water calmed my nerves as I washed away the makeup and cooled my flaming cheeks. I gave up on trying to get my hair back into its orderly ponytail and threw it into a messy bun. I checked the mirror one more time before heading home.

"You look beautiful Holly," it was that voice. The one that made me explode. Rachel Berry walked up to the mirror next to mine and smiled weakly. I shook my head, unable to speak to such a cruel girl. She lowered her head, and threw it up again. "You know Holly. I was only going to tell everyone that you were failing your classes in New York." I almost back handed her.

"Berry," she cringed at her hated nickname, "You just made me spill the biggest secret of my entire life. It was something that was going to my grave with me. Now, I'm sure I'm thought of as the little priss who ran from the Big Apple because she was afraid." I sighed, shaking my head again.

"Well, you know Holly," she started, but I cut her off.

"Save it. I don't need to hear your pity story about something you couldn't have when you were a child. None of it could overtake the memories of that month. It's something you regret, something you wish you could have done differently, like maybe it could've been avoided in some way." I finished my spiel, and then stormed out of the bathroom, tripping on something slightly. Finn was chilling against the wall, a few inches from the bathroom door as I slipped out.

"Holly," he pushed off with his shoulder, coming towards me. I threw my index finger up to him.

"Save it, your girlfriend tried, and failed to apologize. No offense, but I really just want to be alone right now. Thanks, for trying though Finn." He stopped coming towards me. I mean, I couldn't really blame him for what happened. It was kinda my fault. I slowly exited the building, hoping I wouldn't see anyone else on my way to my mother's Corolla. But, out of nowhere, something plasticy hit my shoulder. I pushed against it, and looked up at a bottle blonde boy with blue-green eyes. Sam smiled down at me, his football equipment bulging off of his already large shoulders.

"Hiya," he winked, reaching for a hug. I involuntarily hugged him, not being able to get my arms around his neck, and settling for his waist.

"Hey," I glinted towards him, the afternoon sun refracted off of his white shoulder pads. "Aren't you supposed to be at practice?"

"Coach won't mind," he coolly replied, "So, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me tomorrow night? That new one with that one actor looked really good!" He clearly didn't have a specific movie in mind and it caused me to giggle.

"Of course, that would be really fun! I need to get away from everything for a little bit, even if it's a few miles away." I grinned, cocking my head at an angle to see Sam's entire face that wasn't being blinded by the sun's rays.

"Awesome! I'll see you in Spanish tomorrow, I think Coach noticed." Sam turned and we saw the chin length curly brown hair flow easily in the sudden breeze. Coach Beast stood tall, wearing shorts and knee high white socks, hands on her hips, waiting for her quarterback to get back to practice.

"Bye Sam," I smiled as he jogged off.

I forced my way into the mini Corolla, and my mother wiped the grin I had right off my face.

"Is this the guy you've been studying with?" she asked, as she annoying whipped her finger towards Sam's well-toned back.

"Yes, he is. He's a great tutor," I whispered, knowing what came next.

"I don't think this tutor is a good match for you. He's a blonde version of Andrew." Hearing his name made my stomach drop and I instantly cupped my face. I still felt the sting of the slap.

"He is nothing like him." I enunciated each syllable, anger and hate boiling in my voice.

"Lovely, do you even remember what he looks like? They could be twins!" My mother seemed to be struck at the resemblance between Sam and my ex. Of course, how could I forget the carnivorous face of Andrew? It seemed like only yesterday that that slap was plastered across my jawline.

"Drop it." I fumed, slouching further into the seat, lowering my eyes to the compartment in front of me.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when this tutor has his way with you like Andrew did."

"Pull over." I held back every bit of strength I had not to punch this woman in the face right now. She swerved hurriedly to the side of the road.

"What?" she asked innocently. As if she didn't fucking know. I popped the lock and pushed my way out of the car. "Holly Anne Cline, get back into this car now. Holly Anne!" I shook my head lightly, indicating I wasn't going to come back. I need to get far away from her right now. I need to be anywhere but there. To be honest, I had no more tears left to shed. I had wasted them all on Sam's shirt. I looked up at the houses. What street is this? Honeycomb Drive, isn't this Lily's street? I pulled out my phone and dialed Lily's number.

"Holly, what's up?" she answered after the second ring.

"Is your street Honeycomb Drive?" I asked warily.

"Yeah, why?"

"I'll be over in a second; I really just need to be away from my mom right now." I sighed and hung up. As I approached the warm cream house with navy shutters and a homey feel, Lily paced on the front porch. She saw me; sprinted toward me; and almost rammed into me to give me an awkward hug.

"Hey," she smiled warmly.

"Hey," I returned, regret filling my voice, "Can we go inside? I want to get out of the public eye." I pulled on her arm and she reluctantly opened the door.

As soon as Lily shut the thick oak door, I whimpered.

"What happened Holly?" she asked, petting my hair lightly.

"My mother. She happened." I sputtered, unable to control my voice. "She started telling me that I'm going to be taken 'advantage' of again. Then she reminded me about…" I hurt to say his name, "Andrew." I almost doubled over in pain. Lily was instantly by my side.

"Holly, everything will be alright, you can sleep at my house tonight. That way you won't have to see your mother. You can borrow some of my clothes." I smiled meekly, as Lily darted up the stairs. I took a moment to look around. Lily's house was really warm, not only in temperature, but in colour. I hinted the scent of chocolate chip cookies wafting from the kitchen. A timer dinged and a fragile, middle aged woman scurried past me. Her light blue skirt swished and swayed with every hurried step and her deep mahogany curls bounced along. After a clang of a pan, or something, the woman re-appeared and leaned against the doorway. She looked similar to Lily, but there was no real resemblance besides the warm brown colour of her eyes.

"Hi honey, my name is Aunt Jessica. I'm Lily's aunt." The woman strode confidently into the room, wiping her hands on a small, white towel. I shook her extended hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Holly Cline." I attempted to sound pleasant, but it wasn't working great.

"Everything alright sugar? Did Lily scamper off to see Brittany again and leave you here all by your lonesome?" Aunt Jessica prattled. Just then, Lily descended the stairs, a neat pile of clothes folded lightly in her arms.

"Aunt Jess, are you talking about me again?" Lily handed me the stack, and hugged the older woman. The doorbell rang, pulling the two from the squeeze. "I'll get it. I think it's Britt, she said she wanted to come over later today." She opened the door, and Puck pushed off of the wall he was casually leaning against.

"Hey Lily," He smiled in a rather seductive fashion. Aunt Jessica floated up the stairs and I took that as my cue to follow. "Holly," he stopped me, mid step, "What are you doing here? I thought you had a date with Sam," he spat sarcastically. Obviously, Sam told the football team that he asked me out.

"It's tomorrow," I countered, rolling my eyes at him. Lily had no idea what to do.

"So, uh, wanna come in Puck?" she asked quietly, and I silently begged her not to.

"Thanks," he smiled insincerely, not taking his eyes off of me. I scowled at him. "Let's watch a movie." He pulled out a disk, inserted it into the DVD player, and made himself right at home. Lily shrugged towards me and sat down next to Puck. I made a point to sit as far away from him as I possibly could.

During the first ten minutes of the movie, Puck had already made some advances onto Lily, and she didn't seem to mind. First, he rested his arm around her shoulder, and then he scooted himself so that their legs were touching. He kept my annoyed gaze as he turned and whispered something into her ear. I shook my head and focused back on the movie. Wow, he really doesn't like getting rejected. I'll bet that I was the first girl to reject him. But, when Puck rested his hand on Lily's thigh, she suddenly sprang to life.

"Off." She pushed him away and crossed her arms. I stifled a dry laugh, and there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" I jumped up, walking quickly over to the door. I opened it to see a blonde haired, blue eyed cheerleader bouncing in the doorway.

"Hi Holly, is Lily home?" she giggled, letting herself into the house. She saw Puck and her glowing face dropped. She ran up to Lily's bedroom.

"Britt! No wait! Britt, it's not what you think! BRITT!" Lily clambered after her, leaving me alone with Puck.

"Nice going," I hissed, sitting in a chair far away from him. He crossed his arms and leaned back.

"No thanks to you," he winked slyly. I grimaced at him,

"What's your issue with me Puck? Is it that I turned you down? Can no one resist Puck? Because all the ladies love Puckerman," I shot satirically. Immediately he was up and leaning on the arm rests of my chair. Puck was a few inches from my face, and I got a little freaked out.

"No, all the ladies love Puck. You're right about that. I enjoy how much you are completely revolted by me and I want it. I've never met anyone quite like you before Holly." He stroked my chin before pushing his hard lips against my own. They were filled with lust and I wanted him off of me. I felt myself push him, but he was too strong. He pushed back, with ease until I inhaled to scream. Then, he backed off of me. He smiled, and left the house. I heard a bike rev, and then it was gone. I sat there in utter disbelief. Britt and Lily walked back down holding hands. Lily probably explained to Brittany why Puck came in the first place.

"Everything alright Holly?" Lily asked, seeing me sit there with a zombie-like expression.

"Fine," I choked out. What the hell was that?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This took a lot longer than it should've been. Thanks for keeping up! :) Oh, the songs are Astonishing (Little Women) and Part Of Me (Katy Perry)**

So, I'll bet you're wondering what it's like to sleepover at Lily's house. Well, I'm just gonna say that her Aunt Jessica is the sweetest thing, but she is quite a peculiar woman. After the whole Puck incident, Brittany and Lily went to her room, and I was left with Aunt Jessica. She asked me really personal questions, and then around 10:30 PM she stretched, yawned, and headed off to bed. But, every 5 minutes she was back to make sure I didn't need anything. EVERY FIVE MINUTES, it gets old after the first ten times.

"Do you need some water honey?"

"No Aunt Jessica, thank you though."

Five minutes later:

"Holly dear, do you need another blanket?"

"No Aunt Jessica, thank you though." This was the cycle. So let's just say I had a rough night on the black leather couch. I think around 3 AM Brittany crept down the stairs and left for her house, (who knew girls could gossip for that long?), but at this point I wasn't planning on sleeping.

School wasn't the bee's knee's either. Friday's are horrible, especially when you have plans after school. The clock will just tick on and on. But finally, out of some sort of miracle, the last bell rang. I only have glee club left.

I walked into the opaque choir room and saw a huge scene. Rachel was in hysterics, while Finn tried to comfort her; Lily was clawing at Rachel through Brittany's tight grip; and Sam was awkwardly standing in between the both of them, with his arms held out. He looked between the two girls, not knowing what to do. As his blue-green eyes turned, he saw me and relaxed a bit. Sam shied out of the middle and jogged out past me; grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room.

"Don't go in there. It was pretty rough." Sam whispered, slouching against a locker.

"What happened?" I asked, careening my neck to get a look inside. Sam shrugged a little, and sighed.

"Well, Brittany left to get a snack. Lily looked incredibly pissed off, so Rachel walked in and said 'Look what the whore house dragged in,' then like sorta flipped her hair out at Lily. And Lily lost it. She jumped on Rachel and started pulling her hair. Full on cat fight. I jumped in and tried to break it up, but Lily is seriously strong… Anyways, Finn busted in and ripped Lily off of Rachel, and dragged Rach over to the corner. Brittany came back in and grabbed Lily. I had no idea what to do. I feel bad, but nothing was really hurt besides Rachel's pride." Sam shook his head in remorse. I lifted his chin up to look at me.

"I'm sure everyone's alright. You didn't want to get into it; it's not your fault at all. Don't think like that." I smiled softly and wrapped my arms around his neck. He returned my hug and I felt his lips against the groove of my neck.

"Thanks, you are amazing Holl," he murmured into my neck, making me shiver with excitement.

"Sorry guys, but no PDA's around here!" Puck dragged, rolling his eyes as he walked into the room.

"Shut up Puck," Sam snapped, "I can PDA whenever and wherever I want!" he exclaimed, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I felt my cheeks warm and darken, as Puck flipped us off. The rest of the club piled into the room and we sat down in the back row, next to Lily.

"You alright?" I whispered as Mr. Schue walked in. Her arms were crossed heavily and she was scowling. She nodded slightly, staring at the board in front of her.

"So, I picked who's singing for Sectionals. I have picked…" Mr. Schue paused, peering around the room, "Holly, Lily," he hesitated, tapping his chin, "And Rachel." My jaw dropped. "I want you three to go to the auditorium and work on what song you three would like to sing." Mr. Schue smugly stated, pointing towards the door. I slowly stood up and waddled awkwardly to the door all by myself. Lily sat in pure rage, and Rachel was too scared to move. "Now." He forced, between tight lips. Lily rose and stomped to the door next to me. Rachel was the last to get up; she basically crawled toward the door.

I saw Lily roll her eyes, and Rachel immediately stood her ground and crossed her arms over her chest. In an instant, Finn, Sam, and Brittany jump up and make a burst towards the door. "Alone," Mr. Schue stopped the three of them. They timidly sat down as we walked, or in Lily's case, stomped down to the auditorium.

"So, for this trio maybe we should do some Mariah Carey?" I joked, trying to lighten the tension filled air. Nothing.

"I really don't want to sing with her." Lily stabbed a finger towards Rachel, who happened to be sitting on the edge of the stage by herself.

"Well, maybe what we could do is like a… toss it around sort of thing," I suggested, looking at the back of Rachel's sailor dress.

"What do you mean?" Lily chided, loosening up a bit.

"Like, you could sing a verse, then I could sing a verse, then Rachel could sing a verse…" I explained, shrugging my shoulders lightly. Lily thought about it for a moment, and then nodded her head.

"I mean, it's better than harmonizing with the tone deaf Broadway lover… She sings above any dolphin pitch I could ever dream of hearing." Lily snickered. Rachel stood up angrily.

"It's better than your intense man voice." Rachel spat, and twisted on her shiny, little red flats. She sat next to the piano player and whispered something in his ear. "Listen up; don't want you to miss my perfect dolphin pitches." The piano guy started striking the keys with a ferocious tenacity, a fervent Broadway song began to waft through the piano.

* * *

"I will blaze until I find my time and place. I will be fearless; surrendering modesty and grace. I will not disappear without a trace. I'll shout and start a riot. Be anything but quiet. Christopher Columbus, I'll be astonishing, astonishing, astonishing; at last." Rachel's belted alto note hit me so hard, I was almost moved to tears.

"Fuck," Lily whimpered, her face drawn into a scowl. We were both amazed that Rachel could have that kind of ability to belt show tunes like that.

"Wow," I managed through a dropped jaw. Rachel walked over to us and she smiled confidently.

"I think we should do that one for our trio." She stated, easily bouncing down the steps of the stage. She slid into the front row down the center string of seats. "Go ahead; I'd like to see what you can come up with." Lily looked at Rachel, then at me.

"Let's really show her some real music. Maybe a little Katy Perry?" She breathed into my ear, never taking her staring eyes off of Rachel. I nodded and then ran around the entire band telling them what song we were going to do. The bass drum thumped, bringing in Lily's strong voice, and the song began.

* * *

"Throw your sticks and your stones, throw your bombs and your blows. But you're not gonna break my soul. This is the part of me; that you're never gonna ever take away from me, no." Lily and I finished, holding each other's hand.

"WOO! Take that Berry!" Lily jumped up and down, incredibly energized from the song.

"I think we should do that for our trio!" I squealed, hugging Lily tightly. Rachel had been emotionless the entire song. I was worried she wasn't breathing, but then she stood up. Slowly, she brought her hands together in a loud, sharp clap, repeating it about 5 times.

"It was good, I'll admit. We're gonna have to pick something in between our two songs." Rachel ratified, then turned and left the auditorium. About a minute later, claps were filling the room. I peered through the spotlight and found Sam and Brittany clapping in two corner seats in the back of the auditorium.

"Sam! What are you doing here?" I blushed, looking at my converse. Lily waved them over. Brittany shrieked excitedly and ran into Lily's arms.

"That was amazing Lily! That better be you guys' trio for Sectionals! I know San wanted to do the Sectional's solo, but I really think that you guys will kill it!" she trilled, squeezing the honey blonde tightly.

"Thanks! I like that song a lot. It really describes me, I think." Lily replied, letting go of Brittany. Sam sheepishly walked up to me, then winked gently.

"Hey, that was brilliant," he whispered, grabbing my hand. I looked up into his blue-green eyes and the blush deepened.

"Thanks, it was just a spur of the moment thing. Rachel belted a Broadway song, so Lily and I wanted to show her that new pop culture songs are still fun." I replied, realizing that Brittany and Lily were nowhere to be found. Sam was completely focused on me right now, and the tips of my ears were probably as red as a fire truck.

"So, how about I take you home? Then I'll be back around 7 for the movie." He smiled, leading me to the stairs.

"Okay, that sounds a lot better than my mom nagging me the entire way back to my house. I haven't seen her since… yesterday." I recalled. Hopefully she isn't too pissed off; otherwise I'm hanging with Aunt Jessica again.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Yay, next chapter, check!**

So, back to the drawing board. I have nothing to wear. I mean I had an outfit in mind, but I lost it. After Sam had dropped me off, I came home to my mother screaming toward me for about a half an hour. It was great, really… She told me that she would call my father to find me. I'm pretty sure he's somewhere in Central Russia by now. I mean, he and my mom had a great marriage… you know, the whole eight year commitment. Then he fled. He left behind a heartbroken, young mother and their fragile baby girl. I hate that man; he really took his toll on my mother. She was always a bit different since he left. She has always been the type to hide her feelings, or at least fake them; but since the whole Andrew incident, she has been such a haywired mess. I don't even think she knows my father's real name. She continues to make up different names for him. At first it was James Young; but then a few years later, she named him Eddy Ringer. It was like this most of my life, until now.

"I'm calling Reed," she noted, whipping out her cell phone, deciding whether to dial or not.

"Who's Reed?" I rolled my eyes and spat, through a clenched jaw. Her blue eyes were a faded sort of blue, as if she wasn't really fully there; she whirled around quickly.

"Who's Reed… Who's Reed? Reed is your father." She cried in annoyance. The emotion in her voice was exasperated now.

"Mom, we've been through this thousands of times… Is Reed his name? Or is this 'Reed' a new name you've given him?" I pursed my lips and awaited her answer. My mother crashed into a chair and dropped her head into her shaking hands.

"Who is Reed, lovely? I'm going mad; I think I'm just going to go to bed… maybe a cup of tea too. But first, maybe a shower." This wasn't a new occurrence. It was the same routine, every single time. First she yells, then she cries, and then she showers and goes to bed. But, usually I bring her a cup of tea first. My mother stood up and clambered to bed. I went to the kitchen to make her a pot of tea, it usually brought her back to her senses… somewhat.

"Mom? Are you alright?" I whispered, leaning against the closed door. I heard her talking, maybe on the phone.

"Jake, I understand that she's still too young. But I can't keep lying to her; I'm running out of names. Love, I miss you. Yes, I know you'll be back on the same soil soon, but it's not soon enough. I can take a business vacation to come and pick you up from the airfield, but you can't come here. I don't want her to know you yet, she still thinks that you are a monster. I want to ease her into this sort of thing. But, I need you close. I really think this boy she met is going to take advantage of her. He seems to be the same as Andrew. Everything is the same! Jake, you don't understand. He is like a twin to that kid." She paused, "Alright, fine. I miss you baby, be safe in Afghanistan." My mother hung up and heaved a sigh.

I was in shock. What? Oh my god, she isn't crazy? What the fuck? She knows my real father and she hasn't told me? He's in AFGHANISTAN, and she's been lying to me. I am just gonna… Oh Jesus Christ. I think I might be sick. I set the mug on the ground and slipped away. I basically crawled into my room and laid on my bed.

"Lovely, thank you for the tea." My mother smiled through the door.

"No problem," I sighed, then I decided to grind her about it, "Wait, mom, can we talk for a minute?" My mother pushed the door open and smiled.

"Sure, Lovely, what's up?"

"Who's Jake?" I stated, pressuring her with my vivid sapphire eyes. Her breath caught and she coughed a moment.

"Jake's a work friend dearie, he asked me to pick him up after his trip in a few days." The words seemed to flow easily off her tongue. I knit my eyebrows and looked her straight in her tired eyes.

"You need to start telling me the truth, mom, if that is your real name… You sure you're my mother?" I made her edgy. She sat at the end of my bed.

"I am your mother; I can show you the scars to prove it. And, I mean, I guess we should start with the truth." She looked at me; worry smothered any emotion she was trying to show. "Jake Sullivan is your real father. He was deployed into Afghanistan 9 years ago, and he was told that he would certainly see death. You were so young. You didn't know what was going on, so we made it look like he left us. It was painful to watch you grow up at such a young age, but we always had your best interests at heart. I know it seems like we betrayed you, but we were always with you. Whether it be me, acting insane; or your father, in his letters home. He sent you letters. I have every single one. They're separate from the ones he sent me. Do you want to see them?" she ran out of my room quickly. When she returned, she had a thick stack of envelopes spilling out from under her arms. I always thought those were letters exchanged from my grandparents, but they were mine. They've always been mine. She lightly placed them inside my hands and continued, "Lovely, they said that he is being honorably discharged. He's coming home. We can be a family again. After all these years, the three of us can be a family again. Do you remember him?" She asked, letting her hand drop onto my shoulder.

"How could I forget? You made him sound like a complete monster," I retorted, shrugging her hand off.

"But, lovely he isn't a monster. He is Lieutenant Jake Sullivan, a wonderful man drafted into the army for the wrong reasons."

"What wrong reasons?"

"He wanted to prove that he could be a man to his father, and he did." My mother added, a tear falling down her cheek. She fell onto the bed next to me and continued with the stream of tears.

"Mom," she wasn't fazed, "MOM!" I pushed her a bit.

"What?" she sniffled, attempting to stop bawling.

"I want to meet him, when you pick him up."

"Really lovely?" you could see the exuberance grace her features.

"Yes, but I really need to get ready for my date right now."

"With that blonde boy?" she scrunched her eyebrows together. I nodded and stood up to find an outfit. "Lovely," she started.

"Mom, he isn't going to take advantage of me. I heard what you said to…" I swallowed, annoyed that I couldn't say the words correctly, "My father. Sam is the most thoughtful, gentle, kind, and protective person to me and it would be a shame to hate him because he looks like Andrew." I grabbed a few clothing items and stormed out of the room, leaving my mother, a conflicted mess, sitting on my bed.

* * *

_Ding Dong!_ I ran to the door and flung it open. Sam stood awkwardly in the doorway holding out a red rose.

"This reminded me of you," he smiled sheepishly, wrapping me in a grounded hug. I inhaled the smell of his manly shampoo and smiled.

"Thank you, it's beautiful," I kissed his cheek.

"Just like you," he cut off my sentence, his blue green eyes gazing into mine. I bit back another smile and stared at the ground. I felt the tips of my ears darken to a warm scarlet mess. I stepped back, letting him come in. That was the completely incorrect move. My mother began her descent.

"Lovely!" You could see me physically cringe as I heard her trill.

"Oh shit!" I cursed under my breath.

"We have company? Darling, my name is Sarah Cline, pleasure to meet you…" she held out her hand, as if Sam were supposed to kiss it or something. Sam however, knew exactly what to do. He lightly took her hand and shook it politely.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Cline, my name is Sam Evans." He grinned, making me want to throw myself into his arms. She giggled; I guess that was supposed to be a good sign.

"Sam, please come and chat with me a moment before you go." She signaled him to follow. I looked at him and he nodded, indicating he would be okay if I didn't awkwardly follow. I stood at the door and attempted to straighten my already straight auburn hair.

After what felt like forever, they walked back into the room. Sam seemed unharmed, but you never really know. Cautiously I made my way over to him. He winked and wrapped his arms around me; my mother stood watching the exchange.

"Have fun you two," she chirped as we left the house. As soon as the door clicked I turned toward the blonde boy.

"What did she tell you?" I demanded. He kissed my cheek and smiled.

"She told me what she needed to tell me," he intertwined our fingers and we walked toward his rusty red, Ford pickup. However, I planned to figure out what that woman said. She isn't crazy; just over protective maybe?

**A/N: I'm not entirely sure that troops are allowed to be deployed for that long, but it fit my story and I wasn't exactly sure how to rephrase it.**


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